Quotes About Gnosticism

You'll find a very short introduction to gnosticism in the sidebar below. There's also several pages describing gnosticisim.

Irenaeus, A.D. 183 - 186

This, then, is the kind of man whom [the Valentinan gnostics] conceive of: he has his animal soul from the Demiurge, his body from the earth, his fleshy part from matter, and his spiritual man from the mother Achamoth. There being thus three kinds of substances, they declare ...

1. All that is material (which they also describe as being "on the left hand") will necessarily perish, since it is incapable of receiving any divine influence of incorruption.

In Other Words ...

According to the Valentinian branch of gnosticism here are thee kind of people:

1. The material: these can't be saved.
2. The animal: a mix of material and spiritual, they have to do good works to be saved. This is the church.
3. The spiritual: These are saved by their very nature. They can do whatever they want, much like the modern "once saved, always saved" doctrine.
2. As to every animal existence (which they name "on the right hand"), they hold that, inasmuch as it is a mean between the spiritual and the material, it passes to the side to which inclination draws it.
3. Spiritual substance, again, they describe as having been sent forth for the following purpose: Once it is united with that which is animal here, it can assume shape, the two elements being simultaneously subjected to the same discipline. They declare this to be the salt and the light of the world.

... The Saviour came to the animal substance (which was possessed of freewill), so that he might secure salvation for it. ... They further hold that the consummation of all things will take place when all that is spiritual has been formed and perfected by gnosis (knowledge). By this they mean spiritual men who have attained to the perfect knowledge of God ... They represent themselves to be these persons.
   Animal men, again, are instructed in animal things. These are those men who are established by their works and by a mere faith, while they do not have perfect knowledge. We of the church, they say, are those persons. Therefore they also maintain that good works are necessary to us. Otherwise it is impossible that we should be saved. But as for themselves, they hold that they shall be entirely and undoubtedly saved, not by means of conduct, but because they are spiritual by nature.
   For even as gold, when submersed in filth, does not lose its beauty because of it, but retains its own native qualities, the filth having no power to injure the gold, so they affirm that they cannot suffer any amount of harm, or lose their spiritual substance, whatever the material actions in which they may be involved. Therefore it comes to pass that the "most perfect" among them addict themselves without fear to all those kinds of forbidden deeds of which the Scriptures assure us that "they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." (Against Heresies I:5:6 – I:6:3)

Let us now look at the inconsistent opinions of these heretics—for there are some two or three of them [Irenaeus goes on to mention what seems far more than two or three]—how they do not agree when discussing the same points, but across the board, in things and names, they set forth opinions that are mutually discordant. (Against Heresies I:11:1)

There is another, who is a renowned teacher among them, and who, struggling to come up with something more sublime and to attain to a kind of higher knowledge, has explained the primary Tetrad [see sidebar] as follows …
   Iu! Iu! Pheu, pheu! For well may we utter these tragic exclamations at such a pitch of audacity in the coining of names as he has displayed without a blush … It is most obvious that he admits the things he's said to be his own invention, and that he himself has given names to his scheme of things which have never been previously suggested … so that unless he had appeared in the world, the truth would still have been destitute of a name.
   But, in that case, nothing hinders any other, in dealing with the same subject, to affix names such as the following:
   [The following is sarcasm, but a takeoff on a typical gnostic way of explaining divinity.] There is a certain proarche, royal, surpassing all thought, a power existing before every other substance, and extended into space in every direction.
   But along with it exists a power which I term a Gourd. And along with this Gourd there exist a power which again I term Utter-Emptiness.
   This Gourd and Utter-Emptiness, since they are one, produced—and yet did not simply produce, so as to be apart from themselves—a fruit, everywhere visible, eatable, and delicious, which fruit language calls a Cucumber. Along with this Cucumber exists a power of t he same essence, which again I call a Melon.
   These powers—the Gourd, Utter-Emptiness, the Cucumber, and the Melon—brought forth the remaining multitude of the delirious melons of Valentinus.
   For … if anyone is allowed to assign names at his pleasure, then what shall prevent us from adopting these names as being much more credible, as well as in general use and understood by all? (Against Heresies I:11:3-4)

[Some gnostics] maintain that [their own particular "eons" {see sidebar}] were anterior to Bythus and Sige, that they may appear more perfect than the perfect and more knowing than the very gnostics! (Against Heresies I:11:5)

There is another among these heretics, Marcus by name, who boasts himself as having improved upon his master. He is a perfect adept in magical impostures, and by this means he draws away a great number of men and not a few women. He has induced them to join him as to one who is possessed of the greatest knowledge and perfection and who has received the highest power from the invisible and unnameable regions above. Thus, it appears as if he really were the precursor of Antichrist. For, joining the buffooneries of Anaxilaus to the craftiness of the magi … he is regarded by his senseless and crack-brained followers as working miracles by these means. (Against Heresies I:13:1)

This Marcus mixes filters and love potions in order to insult the persons of some of these women … those of them who have returned to the Church of God—a thing which frequently occurs—have acknowledged, confessing, too, that they have been defiled by him and that they were filled with a buning passion towards him. …
   Some of his disciples, too, have addicted themselves to the same practices and deceived many silly women and defiled them. They proclaim themselves as being perfect, so that no one can be compared to them with respect to the immensity of their knowledge, not even if you were to mention Paul, Peter, or any of the other apostles. (Against Heresies I:13:5-6)

[Marcus' disciples] also maintain that they have attained to a height above all power and that therefore they are free in every respect to act as they please, having no one to fear in anything. For they say that because of the redemption they can now neither be stopped nor even seen by the judge. And even if he should happen to lay hold on them, then they can simply repeat these words … : "O you who sit beside God and the mystical, eternal Sige [Silence], you through whom the angels—who continually behold the face of the Father and have you as their guide and introducer—derive their forms from above … Behold, the judge is at hand, and the crier orders me to make my defense. But I ask you, as being acquainted with the affairs of both, to present the cause of both of us to the judge, inasmuch as it is in reality but one cause."
   Now, as soon as the Mother hears these words, she puts the Homeric helmet of Pluto [which makes men invisible] upon them so that they may invisibly escape the judge. Then she immediately catches them up, conducts them into the bridal chamber, and hands them over to their consorts. (Against Heresies I:13:6)

Cerdon, too, Marcion's predecessor ... came into the church frequently and made public confessions. As long as he did so, he remained, sometimes teaching in secret, and at other times making public confessions. Finally, after he was denounced for corrupt teaching, he was excommunicated from the assembly of the brothers. ... But the rest, who are called gnostics, arose from Menander, Simon's [the magician from Acts 8] disciple, as I have shown. ... But those [of Marcus] broke out into their apostasy much later, during the intermediate period of the church. (Against Heresies III:4:3)

Eusebius of Caesarea, A.D. 323

The same author [Hegesippus, a 2nd century Christian about whom little is known] describes the beginning of heresies which arose in his time in the following words:

Seven Sects of Judaism

These sects are mentioned by Hegesippus, a little-known Christian of the 2nd century. Others refer to "the seven sects," but the list is not always the same. Here are Hegesippus' sects:

1. Essenes
2. Galileans
3. Hemerobaptists
4. Masbotheans
5. Samaritans
6. Sadducees
7. Pharisees

   "After James the Just [the Lord's brother] had suffered martyrdom … Clopas was appointed the next bishop. … They called the Church a virgin, for it was not yet corrupted by useless discussions. But Thebuthis, because he was not made bishop, began to corrupt it. He also was sprung from the seven sects among the people [i.e., the Jews, see sidebar], like Simon, from whom came the Simonians, and Cleobius, from whom came the Cleobians, and Dositheus, from whom came the Dositheans, and Gorthaeus, from whom came the Goratheni, and Masbotheus, from whom came the Masbotheans.
   "From them sprang the Menandrianists, Marcionists, Carpocratians, Valentinians, Basilidians, and Saturnilians. Each introduced privately and separately his own unique opinion. From them came false Christs, false prophets, and false apostles, who divided the unity of the Church by corrupt teachings uttered against God and against his Christ." (Ecclesiastical History IV:22)

Dr. Darrell L. Bock, 2006

A famous conference in 1966 in Messina gathered experts to try to reach an agreed upon definition [for gnosticism], but the attempt failed. In 1996 Michael Williams wrote a book published by Princeton University Press called Rethinking "Gnosticism": An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Category.

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   … It has been difficult to pin down the features that make a work Gnostic and the features that make it simply something different from what we know today as orthodox Christianity but not necessarily Gnostic. (The Missing Gospels, p. 16)

The age and possible roots of Gnosticism, yet another highly contentious area, is the final issue about the ancient context to survey. Almost everyone in the field regards it as unresolved. (The Missing Gospels, p. 21)

The key point is that Gnosticism was not a singular connected movement but more a way of seeing the world that produced a myriad of viewpoints on the themes tied to its definition. However, in this varied form it was never a clear alternative to the earliest expression of Christianity until a variety of Gnostic schools began to emorge, which each tried distinctly to organize Gnostic thinking. (The Missing Gospels, p. 23, emphasis in original)

Yet—and this is crucial—there was never a "Gnostic church," only a conglomeration of disconnected schools that disagreed with each other as well as with the traditional Christians. These Gnostic groups operated initially more like Greek philosophical schools than they did like communities similar to a church. (The Missing Gospels, pp. 23-24)

We lack within the Gnostic materials any detailed discussion of their community practices, a fact that stands in contrast to other early Christian material where praise and community practice dominate the contents. (The Missing Gospels, p. 24)

We have no literary testimonies to a developed gnosis that can be dated indubitably to the first century CE. (The Missing Gospels, p. 25, emphasis in original)